Well, let’s face it – it’s overdue, and Heaven knows I earned it – so I bought myself an E-Type – that RUNS!
I got a call in September from a friend of an old co-worker who was looking for a good home for his E-Type. At first, I wasn’t that interested because it was a 2+2 – and I’m kind of a short-wheelbase, roadster guy… But I have a strict policy of following all leads, and so on a nice cool afternoon in late September, I took the afternoon off and drove a couple hours north in the Corvette with the top down to at least go check it out…
Well, I was not even out of the car yet when I already knew that I was going to be alot poorer than I had planned this Fall, because I fell in love with this car at first sight!
This is a GREAT E-Type! And aside from a respray to the willow/mint green color in 1971, she is BONE-STOCK-VIRGIN with 41,000 miles! Furthermore, this is a FACTORY 4-speed/AC/triple-carb E-Type – how many of THOSE have you seen? I’ve spent my whole life around E-Types and I’ve seen…… NONE!
This is a very late Series 1 2+2. It is within the accepted Series 1 serial number range by about 100 cars. The ONLY features of this car that are not strictly Series 1 are the open headlights and the non-curly wire wheel hubs – although it DOES have eared knock-offs – weird!
The car was built in June of 1967 – right at the beginning of alot of changes for the E-Type. It was originally indigo blue with a medium grey interior. The gentleman I purchased the car from was the second owner – he purchased it in 1969 with 21,000 miles on it. The paint was cracking already and he was not wild about the color, so he painted it this green in 1971 – the year I was born. When I took ownership of the car in late November, it had 41,000 miles on it – most of which he said he put on in the first 4-5 years of the 44 YEARS that he owned it!
And so, once again, I drained the Monocoque Metalworks bank account down to zero, and suffered through another period of touch-and-go finances and long hours to make it up – just to buy some “great E-Type deal” – although this pretty much takes the cake in that department…
SO – needless to say, I’m not expecting much for Christmas – this will do just fine. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year to all of you and your families, and thanks for another great year of being able to do what I love for a living! – Chuck
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- Here she is – the last of the Series 1’s!
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- Depending on the angle, the 2+2 takes on a different look. In this photo, it looks much sleeker than the photo above. But the truth is, when it’s not next to a short-wheelbase coupe, there’s nothing wrong with the lines on this car!
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- I HATE Amco bars AND front license plates on E-Types, and both of those will be coming off REAL SOON!
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- Unfortunately, I missed the sun by about 30 minutes for these photos…
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- She’s got lots of little dings, scratches, and chips in the edges, but from 10 feet away, she looks great – PERFECT for a great driver to have around the shop!
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- My punishment for making so many of the covered headlamp conversion flanges – this car was about the 20th off the line with open headlights. But that’s OK – I actually kind of like it! And while the covered headlights are cool, I know from experience that they aren’t much at night!
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- One of the few non-original items are the seats – expertly refinished in the correct leather from one of the big suppliers. Unfortunately, the previous owner did not realize that his car was medium grey, and ordered the light grey seat kits. If I ever continue the interior restoration, I’ll move forward with the light grey.
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- Here is the back seat in the medium grey – and a great option to have in an E-Type when you’ve got three kids 10 and under! Funny – I’ve now lived long enough to become the optimal 2+2 owner!
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- I don’t mind the rear Amco bar as much for some reason…
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- 41,636 original miles – 48.4 of them put on by me!
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- I can’t get the seat adjusted just right – it feels like everything is up higher in this car. I’ll figure it out. Look at how much more room there is to move the seat back! I call this “a Series 1 E-Type coupe for a guy over 6 feet tall!”
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- Here is a cool shot of the interior – I really like the grey! ALL of the glass, including the windshield, is the original Triple light green “Sundym”
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- Believe your eyes – triple carbs, but with the Series 2 style radiator and dual fans. This is BONE STOCK – and introduced to try to cool the early air-conditioned cars like this one.
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- There’s lots of Patina here, but aside from one red heater hose and a few aftermarket hose clamps, everything under the bonnet is “as delivered”!
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- This is neat – the band secuding the washer bottle lost it’s elasticity over the years and sagged to this point, then continued to age and hardened in this position!
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- The wiper motor is properly dated 1-2 months earlier than the build date.
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- The exhaust system was replaced at some point with the correct pieces, and the rear was completely rebuilt when the previous owner’s wife had the unfortunate experience of being behind the wheel when it locked up from running out of oil – YIKES! All of the work was performed by a Jag restoration shop, and is flawless.
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- The hatch has lost its “pop” when you pull the latch, but otherwise works perfectly.
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- Here is a shot of the engine bay from the LH side – showing the AC compressor and reverse-rotation alternator. The AC does not work, but is all there.
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- In addition to AC, the car also has a rare heated rear window – as evidenced by this wiring harness going into th rear hatch. That is the original indigo blue color.
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- The glass is original Triplex, and has the ultra-fine heater wires embedded in it.
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- I’ll bet you’ve never seen this before – I haven’t! It is on the outside of the glass, and says “Triplex Electrically Heated” Sorry – I don’t have an explanation for that dainty little pinky you see in the reflection…
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- The view of the rear hatch from the inside of the cockpit. Everything is a little dirty, but in great condition without rips and tears – it just needs a good scrubbing!
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- All gauges work, and are in very good condition.
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- The Series 1 solution for the heated rear window controls.
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- All original and quite good. Merry Christmas, Chuck!
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- The original Becker “Corona TR” AM-FM radio, although the AM band sems to be called BC here – and it DOES WORK!
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- 47 years of patina on the grab handle…
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- The Series 1 2+2 door armrests…
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- The original AC unit is still in place and all original, although as usual, the vents themselves are all screwed up and broken. The previous owner said it looked just like this with those two end vents blocked off with tin pieces when he bought the car in 1969!
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- An aftermarket walnut Amco shift knob – the original box for this was in the glove box. Oh yeah – forgot to take photos, but it also has ALL of the original tools and the jack!
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- The Series 1 2+2’s introduced a door to the E-Type glovebox.
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- And look what’s inside – ORIGINAL Lucas fuses!
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- AND – I already blew a fuse, and a 35-amp too. This car uses one fuse for the twin cooling fans, horn relay, stop lights, and a couple other things. I put that original fuse in during this photo shoot, and it worked too!
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- Back home in the shop as the day fades into twilight. The fact that the map light actually comes on when you open the door blows my mind – I am not used to E-Types where EVERYTHING works!
